AUSTRALIA is Awesome

Luhrmann takes "Australia" to dazzling heights of romantic sincerity and nerve-racking adventure, toying with screen archetypes without a hint of irony; the filmmaker appears fully invested in creating a genuine motion picture event of good vs. evil. Luhrmann has always held a soft spot for love stories, but here he's shooting for bigness to backdrop emotional simplicity. And I'll be damned, it works. - Brian Orndorf

NVDL: South Africa badly needs a movie of these proportions.

clipped from english.ohmynews.com "Australia" may not be the most understated of movies, but lending it a distinctive personality is the country itself, and how determined Luhrmann is to keep international flavors out of the mix. This is an Aussie tale all the way to the bone, using pivotal moments of wartime ruin and racial hostility to help fatten the story beyond Drover and Sarah's domesticated affair. In fact, the film belongs to Nullah, who represents the Aboriginal injustice and divine mysticism of the screenplay, with Luhrmann using the boy to embody issues of unfettered bigotry and cultural divide (see "Rabbit-Proof Fence" for another take on this gut-churning moment in Aussie history).